Manufacture of turn shoes



Dec. 20, 1932. FOSTER 1,891,260

MANUFACTURE OF TURN SHOES Filed Oct. 17, 1929 Patented Dec. 20, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT ARTHUR T. FOSTER, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNQR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORLORATIGN, OF PATEESON, NEVT JERSEY, A O'ORPQRATION OF NEW JERSEY MANUFACTURE OF TURN SHOES Application filed October 17, 1929.

This invention relates to the manufacture of turn shoes. In the manufacture of shoes of that kind it is customary to use tacks as temporary fastening means for holding the upper in lasted relation to the sole at the toe and along the sides of the forepart and shank. It is very important that these tacks be driven in such manner as not to penetrate entirely through the sole, since tack holes are likely to result in stains visible on the outer face of the sole of the finished shoe. Such stains are especially objectionable in turn shoes in view of the factthat shoes of that type are largely dress shoes for womens Wear and must, therefore, present a line appearance. This consideration has imposed heretofore a substantial limitation upon the use of machinery for lasting turn shoes, especially as far as the side-lasting operation is concerned. For lasting the toes there is commonly-used a combined pulling-over and toe-lasting machine so constructed as to afford substantial insurance against penetration of the lasting tacks entirely through the sole; but the sides of the shoes along the forepart and the shank have been heretofore usually lasted by hand because of the difiiculty, in the use of side-lasting machines of the well known hand method type,'of controlling the depth of penetration of the lasting tacks into the work with sufficient precision for purposes of turn shoe work. When the tacks are driven by hand, moreover, it is very diflicult, even with the exercise of great care, to avoid occasional penetration of a tack through the sole with the objectionable results above mentioned.

In view of the above and other considerations, the present invention, in one important aspect, provides an improvement in methods of making turn shoes, especially in respect to the manner of fastening theupper to the sole in the lasting operation. Turn shoe soles are customarily provided each with an inside channel lip, that is, a lip-formed by an incision or channel directed outwardly toward the edge of the sole to receive the upper-attaching seam; and in accordance with the novel method of this invention, in one aspect, portions of the upper are fastened to this Serial No. 400,399.

lip over the bottom of the last in the lasting operation to hold the upper in lasted position. More particularly, as herein illustrated, the upper is pulled successively in difi'erent locations to subject it to lasting strain, and while it is held under strain in each location a metallic fastening is inserted through the upper and the inside channel lip and clinched to fasten the upper initially yet permanentlyvtothis lip which, by reason of its relation to the body of the sole, is well adapted to withstand the strain of the upper thereon and thus to hold the upper securely in lasted position. The fastenings preferably utilized are fine wire staples, which are unobjectionable as permanent parts of the shoe and also involve no danger of damage if hit accidentally by the needle of the sewing machine in the later operation of sewing the upper to the sole, the staples being, moreover, so located that theyare substantially out of the line of the upper-attaching seam. Not only, therefore, is all danger of objectionable results due to penetration of lasting fastenings through the sole entirely eliminated, but advantages also arise from the fact that the work is in a condition especially convenient and satisfactory for the sewing operation. Additional reasons for this condition are that the upper is held more securely by the clinched staples than by lasting tacks driven only into the sole, and that because of the absence of any danger of objectionable results from interference between the sewing needle and the lasting fastenings, it is practicable to insert the staples at shorter intervals than. lasting tacks, especially along the sides of the shoe, so that the upper is held more closely adjacent to the edge of the sole for the operation of the sewing machine. Furthermore, the novel method is well adapted to be carried out by the use of staple-lasting machines of a type now largely used in the manufacture of welt shoes, with important advantages in respect to economy and to the character of the results in the lasting of the shoes, the characteristic features of a machine of that type being illustrated and described in Letters Patent No. 1,796,451,

the invention is not limited in its applicability to the lasting of the sides of the shoe.

In addition to its method aspects, the invention further provides an improvement in turn shoes. It will be recognized that the lasting fastenings connecting the upper to the inside channel lip of the sole and permanently incorporated in the shoe increase the security with which the upper is fastened to the sole; and since they are inserted, as illustrated, in locations where the upper is 5 subjected to pulling strain in the lasting of the shoe, they are especially effective in maintaining the upper in the condition required for the best results in the completed shoe.

The invention will now be more particularly described by reference to the accompanying drawing and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a turn shoe lasted along the sides of its forepart and shank in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the step of fastening the upper to the inside channel lip of the sole in the side-lasting operation;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in perspective and partly in cross-section showing the shoe after it has been lasted and sewed, with the upper trimmed at one side only;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section at the toe of the shoe in a location indicated by the line IVIV of Fig. 1, illustrating the positions of the toe-lasting tacks, and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the shoe at the rear of the toe after the shoe has been turned.

As illustrated in the drawing, the materials of the turn shoe comprise a sole 10 and an upper consisting of the usual upper leather 12 and lining 14. These shoe materials are assembled on the last wrong side out, that is, with the outer face of the sole next to the last and with the lining outside of the upper. After the assembling of the materials on the last the lasting operation is preferably performed first at the toe end portion of the shoe, especially if the toe is lasted, as it commonly is and as herein contemplated, by a combined pulling-over and toe-lasting machine of the type illustrated in Letters Pat ent No. 1,280,613, granted on October 1, 1918, upon an application of Orrell Ashton. Machines of that type have means for driving a plurality of lasting tacks t for holding the upper in lasted position around the toe, and as. hereinbefore suggested are so constructed that these tacks are driven without any substantial danger of penetrating entirely through the sole. The relation of such toe-lasting tacks to the shoe materials is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4.

After the lasting of the toe the side-lasting operation is performed along the forepart and the shank, the shoe herein shown being one of the nailed-seat type which is not lasted at the heel end until after the shoe has been turned. It will be observed that the sole 10 is provided, on that face which is outermost as the sole is positioned on the first last, with an inside channel lip 16 formed by an incision or channel directed outwardly toward the edge of the sole to receive the seam 18 (Fig. 3) whereby the forepart and shank portions of the upper are secured to the sole after the lasting of the toe and sides of the shoe. For purposes of this invention, in accordance with the procedure illustrated, the upper is secured to this inside channel lip in the lasting of the sides of the forepart and shank portions of the shoe by lasting fastenings comprising fine wire staples s which are driven through the upper and the lip and are clinched on the lip.

lVhile the invention is not dependent upon the use of machinery for lasting the sides.

of the shoe, the novel method is herein illustrated as carried out by the use of a machine of the type disclosed in the above-mentioned Letters Patent No. 1,796,451. In the use of such a machine the shoe is presented by the operator in engagement with a work rest 20 (Fig. 2) which enters the inside channel of the sole and supports the lip 16, and while the shoe is thus positioned the upper is pulled heightwise of the last and inwardly over the sole by a gripper 22 and is then pressed inwardly against theouter face of the lip 16 by a staple-guiding nozzle 2a which moves toward the shoe in a direction-inclined to the outer face of the sole. After the upper has thus been pressed against the lip in a position opposite the work rest 20, the staple s is driven through the upper and the lip in a location farther inwardly over the sole than the edge of the last bottom by a driver 26 and is clinched by the work rest which serves as an anvil. The staple is thus driven in a direction inclined downwardly toward the sole and the bottom face of the last, so that its legs are clinched in comparatively close relation to the base of the lip. It will be understood that these lasting operations are performed successively in different locations along the sides of the shoe, the shoe being moved by the operator to present it in the different positions for side-lasting. It will thus be seen that, for the purposes in View, the upper is subjected successively in difierent locations along the sides of the shoe to lasting strain heightwise of the last and inwardly over the sole by the pull of the gripper 22. and that while it is held under lasting strain in each location by the nozzle member 24 it is fastened initially, yet permanently, to the inside channel lip 16 of the sole by a staple which is driven through the upper and the lip in the location where the upper is subjected to strain and is clinched on the lip.

After the shoe has been lasted at the toe and the sides, the upper, as herein illustrated, is funther secured to the sole by the thread seam 18. In the shoe herein shown the sole has also an outer channel to provide a shoulder 28 against which the upper is sew-ed, although the invention is not limited to the use of a shouldered sole. 1*; ter the sewing, the margin of the upper is trimmed, illustrated at the left hand side of Fig, 3, the lasting tacks at the toe also being removed. The last is then withdrawn from the shoe and the shoe is turned and mounted on the second last, after:- which the heel end or" the shoe is lasted in the customary manner and the remainin manufacturing operations are performed. 5 illustrates the condition of the shoe after it has been turned and before it has been mounted on the second last. It will be understood that in operations performed on th second last the lip 16 and the margin of the upier are pressed closer to the body of the sole than indicated in this figure, and also that in the completed shoe the inner face oi. the sole and the lip and adjacent margin of the upper are covered by the usual sock lining.

From the fore 'oing description it will be evident that the method of this invention serves to eliminate danger of objectionable results due to penetration of lasting fastenings through the sole, especially along the sides of the shoe where under prevailing manufacturing conditions such danger is more commonly encountered; and that in addition gives rise to other important advantages in the prepara ion of the shoe for the operation of the sewing machine. The staples are conveniently and preterably driven in locations where they are substantially out of the line of the upper-attaching sea: and even it one of the fine wire staples is hitby tl needle of the sewing machine, there is no substantial danger of blunting the point of the needle or of other damage. is therefore practicable to space the staples at shorte' intervals along the sides of-the shoe than has been customary in the use of sidelasting tacks, so that the upper is held more closely adjacent to the edge of the sole than heretofore tor the operation of the sewing machine, especially along the inwardly curved shank. Moreover, the upper is held more securely by the clinched staples than by lasting tacks driven only into the sole, and the inside channel lip being well adapted to withstand the strain of the upper thereon, it is accordingly practicable to subject the upper to greater strain in side-lasting than when lasting tacks are used. The further fact that the novel method is well adapted to be carried out by the use of machinery a-ilo'i'ds opportunity for important economies as well as improved results in lasting.

It will also be recognized that the shoe produced by this novel method is or" improved quality by reason of the fact that the lasting staples connecting the upper to the iside channel lip of the sole in locations along and closely adjacent to the upper-attaching seam serve as reinforcements increasin the security with which the upper is fastened to the sole, these staples contributing further to the. production of a well made shoe because of the fact that they are the actual lasting tastenings inserted at the time of the lasting operation in locations where the upper was subjected to the lasting strain. The staples, moreover, by reason of their relation to the sole, present no rojeo tions or ridges on the inside of the shoe such as might be perceptible in the wear of the shoe. This will be evident especially by ref- ,rence to Fig. 5, where it will be seen that after the shoe has been turned the legs of the taples are inclined at only very small angles 0 the inner face or plane of the sole, the cross-bars lying substantially parallel to that face. It will be understood that by the leveling pressure thereafter applied to the sole in the usual course of manufacture the staples are pressed still more nearly parallel to the plane of the sole. each staple accordingly lie in a plane approximately parallel to the bottom of the wearers foot.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of maliing turn shoes which consists in assembling on a last shoe materials comprising an upper and a sole having an inside channel lip with the shoe materials wrong side out, subjecting portions of the upper to lasting strain and while holding them under strain securing them initially yet permanently to said lip by inserting fastenings through the upper and the lip in locations over the bottom of the last, and thereafter removing the last and turning the shoe.

2. That improvement in methods of malt ing turn shoes which consists in assembling on a last shoe materials comprising an upper The legs and cross-bar of and a sole having an inside channel lip with the shoe materials wrong side out, subjecting portions of the upper to lasting strain and heightwise of the last and inwardly over the bottom of the last while holding them under strain fastening them initially yet permanently to said lip by inserting staples through the upper and the lip and clinching the staples, and thereafter r .noving the last and turning the shoe.

3. l at improvement in methods of mal:- ing turn shoes which consists in assembling on a last shoe materials, comprising an upper and a sole channeled to provide an upper-attacl mg shoulder and also having an inside channel lip, with the shoe materials wrong side out, lasting portions of the shoe by pulling the upper successively in different location and securing it in each location where the pull is applied, before pulling it in the next succeeding location, by inserting a fastening through the upper and said lip. and thereafter fastening the upper to said shoulder, removing the last and turning the shoe.

4. That improvement in methods of malling turn shoes which consists in assembling on a last shoe materials comprising an upper and a sole having an inside channel lip with the shoe materials wrong side out, lasting portions of the shoe by pulling the upper successively in diil'erent locations and fastening it in each location where the pull is appliet before pulling it in the next succeeding location, by inserting a staple through the upper and said lip in a direction inclined toward the bottom of the last and clinching the staple, and thereafter sewing the upper to the sole removing the last and turning the shoe.

5. That improvement in methods of malting turn shoes which consists in assembling on a last shoe materials comprising an upper and a sole having an inside channel lip with the shoe materials wrong side out, lasting the sides of the forepart and shank portions of the shoe progressively by pulling the upper successively in different locations and fastening it in each location where the pull is applied, before pulling it in the next succeeding location, by inserting a metallic fastening through the upper and said lip in a location farther inwardly over the sole than the edge of the last bottom and clinchin the fastening, and thereafter sewing the Iorepart and shank portions of the upper to the sole by a seam located substantially out of the line of the row of metallic fastenings, removing the last and turning the shoe.

6. That improvement in methods of making turn shoes which consists in assembling on a last shoe materials, comprising an upper and a sole having an upper-attaching shoulder and a lip located far her inwardly from the edge of the sole than said shoulder, with the shoe materials wrong side out, lasting the sides of the shoe by pulling the upper successively in different locations and fastening it in each location where the pull is applied, before pulling it in the next succeeding location, by inserting a staple through the upper and said lip and clinching the staple, and thereafter sewing the upper to the shoulder of the sole, removing the last and turning the shoe.

7 A turn shoe having a sole provided with an inside channel lip and having its upper secured to the sole by a thread seam and additionally along said seam by lasting staples of fine wire extending through the upper and said lip in locations where the upper was subjected to pulling strain in the lasting of the shoe, the cross-bars of the staples engaging the upper inside of the shoe in substantially parallel relation to the inner face of the sole and the legs of the staples being inclined at such small angles to said face that the legs and crossbar of each staple lie in a plane approximately parallel to the bottom of the wearers foot.

8. A turn shoe having a sole provided with an upper-attaching shoulder and with a lip located farther inwardly from the edge of the sole than said shoulder and having its upper secured to the shoulder of the sole by a thread seam and also secured to said lip by lasting staples inserted in locations where the upper was subjected to pulling strain in the lasting of the shoe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR T. FOSTER. 

